1. Pierce Says He’s Better Than D-Wade

   NBA Central @TheNBACentral

   Paul Pierce says he had a better career than Dwyane Wade https://t.co/8Q6AbYNxe1

2. Gabrielle Union @itsgabrielleu

   This @paulpierce34 thing is wrong on many obvious levels but what I find most troublesome is this idea of a man trying to diminish another man that looks like him, was raised like him, in order to shine a tad brighter. Shit isnt entertaining, it’s sad. & good people.

3. Zaire Defends D-Wade

   Bleacher Report @BleacherReport

   Zaire not tolerating any disrespect to his dad’s legacy https://t.co/prMMDRcxgd

4. Pierce’s Reaction Is Priceless

   Bay Area Sports Guy @BASportsGuy

   Paul Pierce’s face as Jalen lists all the honors Dwyane Wade had that Pierce couldn’t match, with Beadle providing commentary https://t.co/ppCycwwj12

6. Literally Everybody

   Master @MasterTes

   Nobody:

   Paul Pierce: I’m better than D-Wade

   Everybody: https://t.co/Tla4rnDVkG

7. NBA Twitter in Real Life

   kyle @knicks_tape99

   Paul Pierce: I think I’m better than Dwade

   Twitter: https://t.co/BTDoPzQ8Kd

8. Gotta Punt That Take

   Eric Robinson @_Eric_Robinson

   Paul Pierce: “I’m better than Dwayne Wa…..”

   Me: https://t.co/3jJGmtvo1w

9. Welcome to NBA Twitter

   Anthony F. Irwin @AnthonyIrwinLA

   No one:

   Not a soul:

   Literally no human being on the face of the planet:

   NBA Twitter: Alright let’s make fun of Paul Pierce again.

10. Bleacher Report @BleacherReport

    Wade or Pierce? You decide:

    D-Wade
    16 seasons
    3 Rings
    13x All-Star
    8 All-NBA teams (2x first team)
    3 All-Defense teams

    Paul Pierce
    19 seasons
    1 Ring
    10x All-Star
    4 All-NBA teams (0x first team)
    0 All-Defense teams https://t.co/QEz1mvavej

12. Mood When We Heard That Take

    Dylan @DylansRawTake

    Paul Pierce: “I’m better than Dwayne Wade”

    Me: https://t.co/CqfBAgZdpW

13. Never Forget What Dray Said to Pierce

    FootBasket.com @FootBasketcom

    Great time to bring back this Draymond vs Paul Pierce video https://t.co/nw5JIZNFFM

14. Check the Tape

    gifdsports @gifdsports

    Paul Pierce “go check my Youtube highlights.”

    Me: Alright, bet. https://t.co/lwVxSQtshh

15. This Is Too Good

    Geronimo Flair @SlowMoDro

    The question was so simple but Paul Pierce was determined to lie https://t.co/PkJNOPP6I8

16. We’re All Glad

    netw3rk @netw3rk

    I’m so glad I lived to see the day all of Twitter turned on Paul Pierce

18. Sheeesh

    Dom2K @Dom_2k

    Paul Pierce has done himself a disservice in the media https://t.co/S62Cf0kIcF

19. This Ain’t It, Pierce

    Yahoo Sports NBA @YahooSportsNBA

    Paul Pierce: *speaks*

    The Internet: https://t.co/s8u3GUPOmY

20. Twitter Always Ready for War

    Grant Goldberg @GrantGoldberg

    Paul Pierce: H-

    Basketball Twitter: https://t.co/DWTWrVAXur

21. Not Even Close

    sam esfandiari @samesfandiari

    Paul pierce is historically underrated. Excellent player. That said Dwyane Wade is top 20 all time (and probably closer to 10 than 20). 3rd best SG all time etc. No comparison

22. This Could Very Well Happen

    Daman Rangoola @damanr

    Paul Pierce is gonna get heckled at his own Hall of Fame speech this is tremendous

24. Everyone Right Now

    Complex Sports @ComplexSports

    Paul Pierce: I’m better than Dwyane Wade

    https://t.co/OlkXqojBSv

25. Pierce Still Has His Supporters

    Not EVERYONE is clowning Paul…

26. Are We Forgetting This?

    Ballislife.com @Ballislife

    34 reminders of how nice @paulpierce34 was. https://t.co/Wo4XvVsyp3

27. Debate May Be Closer Than You Think

    Josiah Johnson @KingJosiah54

    Y’all gotta stop coming at Paul Pierce like this. I know he don’t get the LA love like that cause he played for the Celtics and got clowned by Dray, but he can present a SKRONG case that he better than DWade. https://t.co/KLGGBoIKIP

28. Gotta Double Check the Numbers

    John Karalis @RedsArmy_John

    Everyone’s dunking on Pierce tonight, but…. there are a lot of numbers that kind of support him.

    Situation matters. It took a long time for Paul Piece to get a really good team around him. Wade has rings. That’s obviously big. But the Pierce case v. Wade is not bad

The World Bank ranks many countries in Africa among the hardest places to do business.

However, an ambitious project to ease trade between them is a step closer to reality.

The African Union agreed last year to create a free trade zone on the continent, the largest since the World Trade Organization was formed.

On Tuesday, The Gambia became the 22nd country to ratify the accord, reaching the threshold for it to be implemented.

It’s hoped the deal will reduce tariffs and trade rules, and create jobs for a market of 1.2 billion people.

But Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria, isn’t on board with the agreement.

So will the deal succeed?

Presenter: Martine Dennis

Guests:

Aly-Khan Satchu – CEO of Rich Management and an emerging markets economist

Stephen Yeboah – cofounder of Commodity Monitor

Olusegun Okubanjo – founder and managing partner of finance firm OBSIDIAN

Source: Al Jazeera News

Jisr al-Zarqa, Israel – Cookie-cutter homes dotted with swimming pools, well-tended gardens and spacious playgrounds for children.

The city of Caesarea, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu owns a house, has long been associated with luxury villas and the super-rich – but for the Palestinians citizens of Israel living just across the other side of the city’s land barrier, the reality is markedly different.

Jisr al-Zarqa, the last remaining Palestinian town on Israel’s coast, is among the poorest and most densely populated in the country. Here, buildings are packed on every available plot of land, with barely any trees left.

Home to 15,000 Palestinians, Jisr al-Zarqa has for years faced a serious housing crisis, its land swallowed to make room for government infrastructure projects such as a highway that connects Tel Aviv to Haifa.

In the past two decades, Israeli authorities also declared some of Jisr al-Zarqa’s land as protected nature reserves, making the remaining land unusable.

Days before Israelis take to the polls on April 9, residents here appear indifferent, angry at longstanding government neglect. Left abandoned to fend for themselves and faced with sky-high unemployment, they say the state discriminates against their town as its population is Palestinian.

“[The housing crisis exists] not because there is no space. It’s because the Jewish kibbutzim (communal settlements in Hebrew) took the lands around and they refused to give back the lands to the village, to allow this village to expand,” said Jafar Farah, director of the Haifa-based Mossawa Centre – The Advocacy Centre for Arab Citizens in Israel.

“After 70 years [since the creation of the state of Israel] you should see development,” Farah added. “Why is the situation like this? It’s because of the vision as Israel as a Jewish state. It has isolated Palestinian communities, even in a beautiful place like this, it created poverty and anger in the community.” 

‘It’s clear discrimination’

Locked in on all sides with Caesarea to the south, Ma’agan Michael kibbutz to the north and the Jewish town Beit Hanania to the east, Jisr al-Zarqa’s growing population is squeezed within 1,500 dunams [150 hectares] of land.

Meanwhile in Beit Hanania, 900 people live on 3,000 dunams (300 hectares) of land, according to Murad Amash, the head of Jisr al-Zarqa’s local council.

Inside his office, an aerial map shows the Ma’agan Michael kibbutz’s huge aquaculture fish ponds, covering an area of 2,400 dunams (240 hectares). A world-class fishing breeding centre, the kibbutz also boasts field crops, orchards and greenhouses producing a variety of fruits, some of which are exported to Europe. Ma’agan Michael is also home to Plasson, a plastics factory and the kibbutz’s main source of income.

But Amash said that when Jisr al-Zarqa’s local council asked the state to set up industrial fish ponds as a source of income for the town, its request was rejected.

“We believe it’s our right to have some kind of support from the state of Israel. We are citizens of the state. There has been a lot of talks and negotiations on it, but the state didn’t accept this request,” Amash said.

Every year, an additional 200 housing units are needed in Jisr al-Zarqa, but it is difficult to find the space. As a result, multiple families end up sharing homes, which in turn strains social relations and in many cases leads to couples divorcing, according to Amash.

Lacking basic services due to the limited access to state funding, residents resort to burning their own rubbish as the town does not have the resources to provide regular collection.

According to Amash, the town has offered the government various plans and options to expand their land for the past 14 years, such as using the remaining land next to the barrier that separates Caesarea – but their requests were to no avail.

He added that an industrial zone would also help alleviate the high unemployment, reportedly at 30 percent. In contrast, Israel’s nationwide unemployment rate stands at just four percent.

“It’s not just that we’re neglected and abandoned. The state is doing it on purpose,” Amash said.

“It’s clear discrimination.”

Election campaigning

In the lead-up to Tuesday’s elections, some members of the Israeli parliament (MKs) and party leaders have visited Jisr al-Zarqa for campaign purposes.

Amash said he was still undecided as to which party he’d vote for due to their failure to address the town’s severe problems.

He noted that while Arab MKs are willing to listen and have in the past attempted to raise the issue with government ministers, there has been no progress as no Arab party has ever been part of government in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset.

In November 2017, Netanyahu visited Jisr al-Zarqa to attend the opening ceremony of a new police station to address rising incidents of violence, including gang warfare.

Amash said he told the prime minister that while the police station may help curb street violence, it could not solve the dilapidated town’s economic and social problems.

“If you help Jisr al-Zarqa, you’ll have real respect in all Arab communities, not just Jisr al-Zarqa,” Amash recounted telling him.

In his speech at the time, Netanyahu admitted that the government had long ignored Jisr al-Zarqa and promised to visit more to work together with local authorities in order to improve living conditions, Amash said.

That was the last time they saw him, he added.

Taking back ownership

Farah, of Mossawa, said that while Palestinian citizens of Israel can have an effect on Tuesday in changing a Netanyahu coalition, there will likely be a low voter turnout.

“[Palestinian citizens of Israel] do not feel that voting will change the 70 years experience of being marginalised, second-class citizens of the state, who are subjected to institutionalised racism and discrimination, including through the Jewish nation-state law and other laws and policies,” Farah said.

In July, Israel’s parliament adopted a law which defined the country as the nation-state for itself due Jewish people exclusively, further marginalising Israel’s 1.8 million Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Amid the grim reality, Palestinians living in Israel have been relying on efforts to form a strong civil society in order to improve the conditions of their community.

One of the grassroots organisations is Mossawa, whose advocacy work has successfully forced the government to fund the first early childhood centre in Jisr al-Zarqa (at least six are needed); a programme training 50 nurses; and a project to build 400 housing units.

“Finally after 70 years of discrimination, the city council is able to get approval for building a new neighbourhood,” Farah said, adding that the government two years set up public transportation in the town. 

Mossawa has also helped train women to boost their income by producing handmade products for sale, while its volunteers regularly team up with locals to clean up the town and decorate murals, among other activities.

Farah said it’s important to empower the people by taking back “ownership of their streets”.

“The general feeling is that you don’t feel like you belong anymore. People don’t feel that their villages and cities belong to them. People are afraid,” Farah said.